The instinct is to put the Station where the mosquitoes bother you. It is the wrong instinct, and it is the most common placement mistake we see.
The Station is meant to be attractive
A Station works by looking like exactly what a gravid female is searching for: still, sheltered water to lay eggs in. That is the entire mechanism. Which means a Station placed three feet from where you eat dinner is doing its job — drawing water-seeking mosquitoes toward a point three feet from where you eat dinner.
A Station next to the patio still works. It just works in the wrong place.
Fifty to seventy-five feet
Keep Stations at least 50–75 feet from patios, decks and seating areas. Set them as a perimeter around the space you want back, not as a centerpiece within it. Corners first, then the long runs, then anything facing a greenbelt, a field or standing water.
Give them some sun
Aim for three to four hours of direct morning or evening sun, or six to eight hours of diffused light. Deep permanent shade is not ideal, and neither is full exposed afternoon sun in the height of summer.
And be patient
Because the system works on the next generation rather than on the adults currently in your yard, the effect builds over weeks rather than appearing overnight. A perimeter set correctly in March is doing considerably more by June than one set up in a hurry in July.